I’m Bipolar. Like Britney Spears, I Deserve To Control My Life.

"I know the devastating combination of having a 'major' psychiatric disorder while being young and female."

On June 23, singer Britney Spears testified to the nightmare she’s been living since 2008, the year her father, Jamie, was appointed her conservator. Even the “Free Britney” movement couldn’t have imagined the details of her testimony: forced to take a drug that made her feel “drunk”; touring against her will; unable to remove the IUD placed in her body. Conservatorships are designed to protect those who cannot in any way manage their own affairs, often because of conditions like dementia. They are legal last resorts. Spears, in her 13 years as a conservatee, has created hit albums, done a wildly successful Las Vegas residency and cared for two sons. She even made the canny decision that her court hearing be open, unlike previous hearings where, she testified, she wasn’t “heard on any level.” I share Spears’ reported diagnosis of bipolar disorder, and I know the devastating combination of having a “major” psychiatric disorder while being young and female.